Floor covering tile



June. 23, 1942. B. J. WALKER 2,287,653

Patented June 23, 1942 FLOOR COVERIING T'ILE' Bernard J. Walker,Islington, Mass., assigno' to Bird & Son, Inc., East Walpole, Mass., acorpo'ation o! Massachusetts Application December 6,1940, Serial No.368,'175

3 Claims.

This invention relates to flexible, hard surfaced floor covering, suchas linoleum and the like, and more particularly to such covering in theform of tile, to methods for covering a floor with such tile, and todecorative floor covering formed therewith.

In covering floors with linoleum and other materials of a similarnature, it is a common practice to form part or all of the coveringfrom' a plurality of small Squares or tiles of the covering material bycementing the tiles individually in edge-abutting relation to thesub-floor. Byemploying two or more groups of tiles of contrastingsurface coloration,' decorative effects may be produced in a widevariety of patterns according to the manner in which the differentlycolored tiles are arranged on the floor.

To accommodate this practice, most floor covering manufacturers supplytheir covering material in the `form of tiles as well as in largepatterned sheets, making the tiles, for reasons of economy inmanufacture, by cutting large webs of finished covering material intosmall Squares of uniform size, usually'9x9 inches or 4 x4 inches. Bycutting a number of difierently colored webs in this manner, a varietyof tiles in different colors is' produced. These tilesare then boxedaccording' to color and size 'and shipped to the dealers wheretheindividual purchaser selects colors and quantities according to thepattern which he wishes to produce and the floor area to be tiled. i

Interesting and pleasing patterned floor coverings are sometimesproduced by the use of tiles of two diflerent sizes as' well as ofcontrasting colors by laying the smaller tiles each within a surroundinggroup of the larger tiles of a different color. The making of a floorcovering in this manner is, however, a difficult task for the layer,particularly if the smaller tile are laid at a diagonal to the largertile, involving complex staggering or trimming of the larger tile,difficult edge matching work, etc.,'and is highly skilled workconsiderably more expensive than the laying of a floor covering withtile of uniform size.

I have found that very effective and pleasing patterns can be producedby the use of tiles, some or all of which are provided with an innerdesign of contrasting colorfrom that of the surrounding borders. Withsuch tile of uniform size it is possible to produce pattern'ed floorcoverings similar to those made by interspersing large and small tile asjust described without the difliculties and expense involved in thatmethod. But the manufacture of such designed' tile by any previouslyknown method would be relatively difficult, time-consuming and costly ascompared with the standard. single coloration tile. Moreover, for thecovering manufacturers to supply such designed tile in the necessarycolor va'ities for combination and blending with the standard singlecoloration tile would involve complication of and heavy increase in tilestocks of the manufacturers and their dealers.

^Accordingly, the general object of the present invention is to providedecorative floor covering 'tile having contrastingly colored innerdesign and surrounding borders, and to overcome the above mentioneddifficulties which would prevent quantity production and 'widespread useof such tile. More specifically, one object of the invention is toprovide novel tile of hard surfaced, flexible floor covering, each tilecomprising a border portion and a removable cut-out portion within andof the same coloration as the border portion which are adapted tobehandled and laid as a unit, the removable cut-out portions of tile ofcontrasting color, however, being readily mutually interchangeable toform tile having a contrastingly colored inner design and surroundingborder upon their surface, or the cut-out portion of one tile may beremoved, re-oriented and replaced, with the resultant advantage here-'inafter referred to. Another object of the invention is to provide suchtile which can be made as easily and at the same cost as the standard,one parttile of uniform coloration, and which can be packaged, shippedand displayed at no greater cost. These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing moreparticular description and from the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view ,of a novel tile of the invention in the form inwhich it is supplied to the purchaser;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a pair of difierently colored tile of theinvention with the cut-out portion of each tile unit removed forexchange to provide tiles having contrastingly colored inner design andsurrounding border;

-Fig. 4 is a plan view of a segment of sub-floor and of a set of tilesof the invention of two different colors, some of which have beencemented to the floor, with cut-out portions of differently coloredtiles exchanged, and others of which are awaiting application to thefloor.

In making floor covering tile in accordance with the invention, Ipreferably utilize large webs of finished, flexible, hard surfaced floorcovering of any usual type which includes, as indicated in Fig. 2, acolored, hard wearing surface layer o which maybe linoleum .mix or thelike of sub*- stantially uniform coloration throughout its surface, anda softer,- more plastic base l2 which may be the usual asphaltimpregnated burlap or felt or the like.

' The finished web of covering material is cut in any convenient mannerinto individual tile of the same size and shape, each of which has, asshown in Figsf. 1 and 2, a border portion M and within said borderportion but completely severed therefrom a removable cut-out portion !6,the cut-out portions IG of the tile being all of the same size andshape. It will further be noted that the cut-out portion IE issymmetrical about both its horizontal axis and its vertical axis.Preferably, thetiles are formed from the' web in a single cuttingoperation by pressing the web between platens provided with knives whichsimultaneously'cut through the web around the margins of the-borderportions l4 and around the margins of the inner portions !6. V

As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the portions IE, though`completelysevered from the border portions, are not removed from within the borderportions'during the cuttting. I have found that, provided the cut aroundthe margins of the portions IG is' made with a thin, sharp edge, theseportions tend to adhere at their edges to the inner cut edges oi theborder portions sufficiently to remain in place therein under the normalstresse's incident to packaging, shipment and display of ,the tile,although they may be readily separated from the margin portions bypressure of the fingers. This self adherence of the severed central andborder portions of the tile units, which is apparently due mainly to thegeneral re'silience of the material ,which causes the severed edges tospread into mutual frictional engagement as the sharp cutting edge iswithdrawn from between them, and is, aided somewhat by the slightstickiness of the base composition, is an important feature oftheinvention -since it renders unnecessary any separate handling .andpackaging of the centers and borders of each tile or the provision ofany means for holding these parts together under normal conditions ofhandling. It is thus possible for the manufacturer to make and packagethese novel tile units at no increased expense as Compared with thestandard one part tile.

A number of diiferently colored webs of the covering material aresubjected to cutting in the manner above indicated to provide a numberof groups of the tile which differ only in surface coloration. The tilesare then packaged and shipped to the dealers where they are distributedto the purchaser in sets comprising at least two groups of the tiles ofdifferent surface coloration but of the same size and shape andcontaining removable cut-out portions !6 of the same size and shape,there being usually the same number of tile in each group. The purchasermay then, preparatory to laying the tile, remove the center portionsfrom any or all pairs of tile of contrasting colors and insert them inthe corresponding aperture in the contrastingly colored border portionof the other tile of the pair, by this exchange converting the two tilesinto designed tiles having contrastingly colored inner design and borderportions. In Fig. 3 of the drawing there is shown a pair of the tiles Aand A' of contrasting colors from which the cut-out portions IS and IG'have been removed and exchanged for insertion of the portion IS in thedifferently colored border portion M' of the unit A' and insertion ofthe portion 16' in the contrastingly colored border portion M of theunit A. Moreover, the cut-out *portions being symmetrical about theirhorizontal and vertical axes,-a cut-out portion of any one tile may beremoved, re-oriented (e. g.,

. shifted around 90) and replaced. This is a valuable attribute wherethe colored tiles have the customary striations or similar markings, asit can be utilize'd to effect changes in design of the floor covering.In fact, this feature may be advantageously employed with tiles of butone color to produce a floor covering having a new design.

Th'e tile of the invention are secured to the sub-floor by suitablecements in the conventional manner, the cement securing the cut-outs andborders of the units together by bonding both portions firmly to thefloor. In Fig. 4 of the drawing, there is illustrated the formation of apatterned floor covering from two groups A and A' of tiles of theinvention, the tiles of the two groups diifering only in surfacecoloration. In the rows of tile B and C which have been cemented to thesub-floor F, the' centers IS of the tiles of group A have beensubstituted for the centers 16' within the border portions M' of thetiles of group A', and vice versa. The tiles, with exchanged centers,have then been laid in abutting relation with the tiles comprisingborder portions M and centers IB' alternating with the tiles comprisingborder portions l4' and centers !6. In the incomplete row D, a tile isabout to be made up for application to the floor from a border 14' froma tile of group A' and a cut-out portion IS removed from the previouslylaid tile of group A.

In making the particular covering indicated in Fig. 4, each of the tile,when laid, is provided with a center portion from a tile of differentcoloration, but this, obviously, isnot essential, as tile of theinvention may be laid in the form in which they are made whereby theywill present a uniformly colored surface and may be interspersed withother tile of which the centers have been exchanged to'providecontrastingly colored inner design and border portions, or, as alreadyexplained, the cut-out portion of any or each tile maybe removed,re-oriented and replaced to elfect changes in the design of the fioorcovering.

It will be apparent that by means of the tile of this invention, effectssimilar to those obtainable by interspersing large and small one-piecetile of contrasting coloration may be produced without the difficultiesand expense involved in that practice-indeed, except for the simple stepof exchanging cut-outs, with no more work and cost than is involved informing a floor covering from standard one-piece tile of uniform size.The patterns produceable with tile of the particular form shown in thedrawing resemble those resulting from interspersing large and small tilewith their corresponding edges parallel to each other. Obviously, if theedges of the cut-out portions are cut at an angle to the outer edges ofthe border portions, instead of parallel thereto as shown, the patternsproduceable by laying the tile with cut-outs exchanged will resemble afloor covering formed by laying small tile at a diagonal to surroundinglarger tile of contrasting color.

Of course, the cut-out portions of the tile need not be square as shownin the drawing, and various other ornamental shapes may be chosen forthis portion. Also, the tile may, if desired, be provided with more thanone removable, ex-

aas-7,653

* therefrom, said removable portion held against displacement fromwithin said border portion solely by frictional engagement of itsmarginal edges with the adjacent cut edges of said border portionwhereby said removable portion may be readily removed, reoriented,replaced and rictionally held in position while said tile is being laidas an element of floor covering.

2. A system of tile for use in forming a patterned floor coveringcomprising a plurality of 'individual tile of hard surfaced, flexiblecovering material such as linoleum and the like, each of said tilehaving a border portion and a removable central portion symmetricalabout its vertical and horizontal axes cut from within said borderportion and frictionally engaging the adjacent cut edges of said borderportion against dsplacement therefrom, some of said tile having asurface coloration contrasting with that of others of said tile, saidremovable pcrtions of said tile being of the same size and shape andmutually interchangeable whereby they may be readily removed,reoriented, replaced, or interchanged, and frictionally held in positionwhile laid as elements of patterned floor covering.

3. A system of tile for use in forming a cpatterned floor coveringcomprising a plurality of individual tile of hard surfaced, flexiblecovering material such as linoleum and the like, each of said tilecapable of being handled and shipped a's a unit and having a borderportion and a removable central interior portion symmetrical about itsvertical and horizontal axes of the same thickness and surfacecoloration as the border portion and completely severed from the borderportion, said interior portion being held to said border portionsufllciently to withstand displacement therefrom in normal handlingsolely by frctional engagement of their cut edges, some of said tilehaving a surface coloration contrasting with that of others of saidtile, said removable interior portions of said tile being of the samesize and shape and mutually interchangeable in the border portions ofsaid tile.

BERNARD J. WALKER.

